Halibut Hangar

Originally Published June 04, 2008; Updated and Republished July 30, 2008; Updated and Republished October 15, 2008:

Miss Virginia 2007, Hannah Kiefer, visits America's newest fast attack submarine, USS Virginia, SSN 774. In addition to having our young women visit our newest submarine, our Navy needs to ensure they can stay if they so choose. Hannah, instead of just calling for Miss Virginia 2008 to visit our newest submarine, why not call on the United States Navy to begin assigning our young women to our nation's newest submarine?

Hannah Kiefer, USS Virginia SSN 774

Challenge our young women to crew our submarines. Challenge them to design submarines with: lower costs (USS Virginia costs $2.5 billion, plus!); more advanced technology; improved and advanced materials—the sail on which you and the lieutenant stand is so yesterday (it represents approximately 8-9% of the submarine's total hydrodynamic drag¹)—a platypus like appendage.

Web:

• UPDATED 10/15/2008 UPI, Some urge broader women's role in military.

  "These women aren't asking for special privileges," said Manning, a Navy veteran. "We think women and men should be allowed to do any job they are physically qualified to do."

• UPDATED 07/30/2008 Remembering When Women Became Waves. The video gives a short history of women in the Navy ending with a statement implying that women are now fully integrated into the Navy—not quite we still need them to command and crew our nuclear submarines. (also, women cannot be Navy Seals, notwithstanding their ability to meet all the requirements)

• UPDATED 06/18/2008 Winter: Fewer Subs For Now. Speaking at the United States Naval War College Secretary of Navy, Donald C. Winter said he does not support increasing the Virginia-class submarine production rate (from one to two per year).

  ”There is no silver-bullet solution to this financial problem,...We must figure out how to build a more cost-effective fleet and build a fleet that is less costly to operate.”--Donald C. Winter--

• Miss Virginia Visits State's Namesake Submarine
• Virginia Class Submarine - Defense Authorization FY09

-----notes-----

1. Increased hydrodynamic drag, all other things being equal, means more propulsion, which requires a larger (noisy and heavy) or more efficient propulsor and/or propulsion plant.

The sail also has other undesirable attributes for the modern submarine. For example added weight, limited maneuverability, larger energy (sonar, radar, magnetic) cross sections, and high center of gravity (instability).

Some of these undesirable attributes are mitigated by manufacturing modern submarine sails from new composite plastics.